Matthew 22:41 - 46
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Question:
ReplyDelete- Why is this such a surprise to the Pharisees? What's the significance here?
http://www.grace4u.org/newtest/matthew/Matt22-41.htm says:
ReplyDeleteObviously, the Scriptures identity of the Messiah was the topic the religious leaders and crowds should have been occupied with. In two short days from this moment, Jesus would be betrayed into the hands of these "chief priests and scribes," resulting in His trial and crucifixion. The nation would reject their Messiah. This question of Jesus' was one of His final pleadings with these religious leaders to repent of their sins and turn from their refusal to believe in Him.
David's Lord, the Jews understood is Messiah, who God or Jehovah will command to take His place at the position of power and authority, until David's Lord's "enemies" are subjugated. No doubt the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, chief priests and elders of the people, would reflect on this later and realize that according to Jesus, the "enemies" to be subjugated in the future, was a veiled reference to themselves. The Lord Jesus would suffer at their hands, but sit at the right hand of God, patiently awaiting the total subjugation of His enemies, including those very religious leaders.
Obviously, they couldn't answer because they refused to believe. Their theology recognized that the coming Messiah would be of the lineage of David and their theology recognized that God would address Him as "Lord," but they couldn't understand how king David could address Him as Lord. The title of "Lord" or Adonai (in the Hebrew) implies sovereign ruler over someone. If David called Him, "Lord," then he would be calling his own son, the sovereign ruler over himself, in acknowledgment of subjection to Him. This to the Jewish thinking, where the respect of one's father was a serious duty, presented a serious problem! And of course, for someone accepting Jesus as the Messiah and sovereign God, this is no problem. David welcomes Jesus as his sovereign Lord regardless of the fact that these Jewish religious leaders refused Him and this was the very issue that Jesus was driving at in the first place.
What a profound argument! Jesus took the religious leaders on a mental journey, beginning with what they believed and leading them to the logical conclusion of what they refused to accept, i.e., that He was the promised Messiah and allegiance to His Lordship was their personal obligation. They were not to try to trap Him with silly political, theological or ethical questions, but to humble themselves before Him and one coming day, as His "enemies, be made His footstool!"
The entire portrait here in Psalm 110 is the granting of authority to rule to the Messiah, by Jehovah God, who then makes war against His enemies, until completely victorious and the dead bodies lay as a testimony to the world of the sovereign power of the Messiah! This final silencing question of Jesus' wasn't simply meant to arouse the curiosity of His enemies, but to announce their impending doom! These enemies of the Messiah would one day be crushed under the authority of His power as all who seek to rebell against Him. As the Apostle Paul summarizes…
Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth [that means those who are lost], and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is [now here is the name above every name] Lord, to the glory of God, the Father.
The chief priests, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees would have their day of rejecting Christ and finally rally together to place Him on the Cross to die, but that's not the end of the book about the Messiah. There's another chapter that's already been written and it contains their impending doom and the total destruction of all those who reject Jesus Christ as the rightful Lord of their life.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2359/whose-son-is-christ says:
ReplyDeleteThe leaders of His own day said He did what He did by the power of hell, the devil himself. But for the most part, humanity has been somewhat condescending to Jesus, somewhat generous, somewhat patronizing, somewhat complimentary. Some of the great philosophers of the world have looked at Jesus as the best of men.
And so it has been that even in the mouths of those who do not believe in Him there is a kind of condescending, patronization that says He's the best of men. But the other side of that is that underneath all of that is a very incipient denial that He is anything more than the best of men. And it has always been that Christianity has found its most violent detractors and its most aggressive attackers coming at the deity of Jesus Christ. That is the most attacked point of our doctrine.
If you study not only liberal Protestantism, not only historic apostasy, not only European philosophy or even American philosophy where you get all of these opinions, but if you just study religion, you will find that it makes overt attacks on the deity of Jesus Christ.
Now you remember that this is Wednesday in Matthew 22 of the Passion week, Christ will be crucified on Friday to rise on Sunday. And He is in a long drawn-out conversation with the religious leaders in the temple. And so they come back at Him with a series of questions meant to discredit Him. They ask Him three questions, none of the questions discredit Him, they all discredit the ones who asked them. And the people are even more fascinated with what He says.
But there's one more question and it doesn't come from them to Him, it comes from Him to them. And the purpose of this question is to make very clear the identity of the Christ, the Messiah. You see, they were living under the false assumption that the Messiah would be just a human military leader. Oh, He had to have all the right credentials, but He was human in the view of these religious leaders and their followers. And so the Lord confronts them and the crowd gathered there at the Passover season with a pronouncement here that the Messiah in fact is far more than just a human, He is God. And that's the essence of this passage.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2359/whose-son-is-christ (continued):
ReplyDeleteAnd for the last time personally He confronts them. And you have to believe that His confrontation is a two-fold thing. That on the one hand it is a proclamation of who He is that indicts their ignorance. It is a pronouncement that ultimately reflects upon their judgment. In other words, He says to them you thought Messiah would be but a man, I'm telling you Messiah is also God and your failure to understand that is an indictment, is the cause of your judgment. You ask Me by what authority I did these things back when this day began, now I'm telling you the authority. The authority is that I'm more than man, I'm God.
But there's more to it than that. I believe also that there's an invitation here because not all the Pharisees were as rigid in their rejection as some. There must have been some tender-hearted ones. There must have been some sensitive ones because the law expert, or the scribe, that had just asked Him the question back in verse 35, when he heard the answer, Jesus said to him, you remember as recorded in Mark 12:34, "You are not far from the Kingdom." So it must have been that here was at least one, and there must have been more who were close to salvation and for whom the further information about the deity of Jesus Christ could be saving truth, could bring them to the knowledge of Christ. And so I think it comes not only as an indictment saying, in effect, how could you be so foolish not to know your own scriptures, how could you be so foolish to have missed all of this, but it comes also as an invitation to those whose hearts are still open.
So what is your opinion about the Messiah, the anointed one, the one you're waiting for? Whose Son is He? Whose Son is He? Very simple question, as far as the Jews were concerned. Very easy to answer. In fact, it was so easy because they didn't know the full answer. They thought they knew the answer. They didn't know. They thought the Messiah was nothing more than a man, human. So the question appeared to them to be very easy to answer.
That's easy. David's son. And they hurried to show their knowledge when in fact they show their ignorance. You see, any Jew would have given that reply. I mean, that's understandable. That's what all the scribes taught.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2359/whose-son-is-christ (continued):
ReplyDeleteYou say, "Where did they get that information?" They got it from the Old Testament. You say, "Is it true?" Yes it's true, He was Son of David. In 2 Samuel chapter 7 . . . Psalm 89 . . . Micah 5:2 . . . Ezekiel 37
the two blind men in Jericho cry the same thing, "Have mercy upon us, O Son of David." In other words, calling out to Jesus as the Messiah. When Jesus healed in Matthew 12:22, He healed many people and in verse 23 all the people were amazed and said this is not the Son of David, is it? That was a Messianic title. When Jesus rode into the city, they cried "Son of David....Son of David." That is the Messianic title. That is the term the Jews used to identify David's greater son who would sit on the throne and reign.
So the Jews had it straight that the Messiah would come in the lineage of David, that He would come in the line of David. Now this is very important. And that is why Matthew goes to great lengths to present Jesus Christ's genealogy in chapter 1.
If Jesus had not been, you can be sure that would have been a major issue in the New Testament with these leaders. You know well that they could have disqualified Jesus instantaneously from being Messiah if they could have proven that He did not have a Davidic genealogy, right? They could have eliminated Him very fast. And you know well that they must have checked. And in the temple they kept records on the genealogy of everyone. In fact, the records were kept so well that everyone knew their genealogy and it's only been since the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. that the Jewish people today no longer know their genealogy because the records have been lost, and they being scattered were unable to keep track of them. But those days were different and they knew. In fact, you couldn't hold any civic responsibility in the nation unless your genealogy was known. And if they could have disqualified Jesus on a non-Davidic line, they would have done it. The fact that they didn't and never brought it up indicates that in fact He was from the line of David.
But their answer, as right as it was, was inadequate. It was true but it was partial. It was correct but it fell short of the full answer. And, you see, they're saying to Him, "Who do You think You are, letting people call You Son of David? That great Messianic title is too great a title for You." And He is saying no, it's too a small a title for Me. Just the opposite. I mean, David had many sons, thousands of them, many descendants. How was one to be distinguished out from all of them? I mean, how was one to be distinguished above Solomon, or above Hezekiah or above Joseph the father of our Lord? Who was to stick out? I mean, if you're just looking for son of David, you've got a lot of folks to choose from.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2359/whose-son-is-christ (continued):
ReplyDeleteSo the incisive question, they think it has a simple answer, but they have an inadequate answer. That leads to the third point that I want you to see, the infinite reality...an infinite reality. The Lord responds to their inadequate answer by presenting them something that is infinite, it's incomprehensible and it's true and it's marvelous.
Verse 43, "He said to them, How then does David in the Spirit call Him--that is the Messiah--Lord?" How then does David in the Spirit call the Messiah Lord? If He is the son of David, how is it that David calls Him Lord? The word "Lord" kurios, common word in the Greek, used many many times in the New Testament for deity, it's the title of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time He's called Lord it's kurios. You go back to the Old Testament and the word that you'll find back there for Lord is adonay...adonay. That, too, used all throughout the Old Testament as a title for God, a title for God. For example, in Genesis 15, "After those things, the Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God...Lord God." That's deity. And in Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 17 we read this, "For the Lord your God is a God of Gods and Lord of Lords," Yahweh and Adonay, it is a title of deity.
So, Jesus says if Messiah is only David's son, human, how is it then that David calls Him Lord God, deity, divine? Well, that's an important issue.
"How then doth David--watch this one--in the Spirit call the Messiah Lord?" There's a qualifier there that's very important, isn't it? When David called the Messiah Lord he was what? He was in the Spirit. So He's not talking about the human spirit, He's talking about the Holy Spirit.
Now what is the Lord saying? I want you to listen very carefully, this is very, very important and this verse has been attacked. Anybody who wants to knock out the deity of Christ has got to deal with this verse. And its really suffered the arrows of the critics. But listen carefully. When the Lord says David calls the Messiah Lord in this Psalm, the Lord is therefore interpreting this Psalm for us and He's telling us three things. Number one, He's saying the Psalm is Messianic because David is talking about Messiah. That's the whole point of the conversation.
Secondly, He is affirming Davidic authorship. He is saying David said it. You don't see David's name in Psalm 110, Jesus tells you David wrote it. And that is the tradition of the Jews. Before Jesus' time they assigned it to David. That's why it has that little indication at the heading that it was written by David, it is a Psalm of David. But Jesus affirms it.
Thirdly, most important of all, Jesus affirms the deity of Messiah. When Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1, He says: one, it is Messianic; two, it is written by David; and three, it affirms the deity of Messiah. That's its intent.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2359/whose-son-is-christ (continued):
ReplyDeleteBoy, this is important. Now listen carefully. I did a little reading this week in some of the critical analysis of this particular text. And I was fascinated to find out that many critics deny the Messianic character of Psalm 110. They say it's not Messianic. In fact, they deny the prophetic character of it. In fact, they deny prophecy. And the reason they do that is because they don't believe the Bible's supernatural and it can't predict the future. So they just make it a historical document, they deny its Messianic purpose.
Secondly, I was amazed to find out that critics deny Davidic authorship. They say language was not that developed. David couldn't have written in his time, and his time language was too underdeveloped to give the expressions that are given in Psalm 110, plus the priest/king situation would have been unfamiliar to David. Which is a whole lot of baloney, to put it mildly.
And the third thing they deny is the deity of Jesus Christ. Now if you're going to deny the deity of Jesus Christ, you would do well to deny the Davidic authorship of this Psalm and to deny also its Messianic character. And then you can deny the deity of Jesus Christ. The only problem is you've just said Jesus is a liar because Jesus affirms the Messianic character of the Psalm, He affirms the Davidic authorship and He affirms that it presents the deity of the Messiah. And so what you're saying, in effect, is Jesus is a liar. So don't come back to Him with any patronizing nonsense about the fact that He's the highest level of human virtue because if He's the highest level of human virtue, He wouldn't be lying about who He was and who the Messiah was and is.
And what did God say to David's Lord? Look at verse 44, what did He say to Him? "The Lord God said to my Lord, the Messiah, the Christ, Sit Thou on My right hand." What does that mean? God Himself, the Yahweh of Israel, the creator of the universe, the God of very Gods--as the theologians called Him-- has designated a position of rank for the Messiah that brings Him to His own right hand and puts Him in co-equal place of power and authority with Himself, virtually declaring His deity...Sit on My right hand, sit on My right hand. That's why Hebrews 1, the writer of Hebrews says that God has lifted Christ and placed Him at His right hand. Equal glory promised the Messiah because He is equal deity.
Son of David is not enough, that's the point. Son of David is inadequate. Son of God must be added. Verse 45, "If David then call Him Lord, how is He his Son?" Frankly it's a riddle they can't answer. "And no man was able to answer Him a word." They couldn't answer it. These were the religious leaders, folks. This is the braintrust of Judaism. And they couldn't answer Him because they would not acknowledge what was clear out of that passage and that was that He had to be God as well as man. How can He be son of David and David's Lord at the same time? He would have to be God and man.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2359/whose-son-is-christ (continued):
ReplyDeleteYou see, it is the great heart of Christianity that Jesus Christ is the God-man...the God-man..the God-man. And I don't care what all these other isms and cults say and all these liberals, that is to deny the very heart of the Christian faith and to make out yourself as a fool when the Scripture's so abundantly clear. If there were nothing else in the Bible but Revelation 22:16, it would be enough. "I Jesus," here's His own testimony, "have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the churches." Listen to this, "I am the root and the offspring of David."
Now how can you be the source of David and the offspring of David? Same thing. He is David's Son, He is David's Lord, the God-man. Yes, He's human. Luke 2:52 says He grew in wisdom, stature, favor with God and man. Every bit human, every bit the Son of David. He knew pain. He knew thirst.
But He was also God. And He shared with God the attributes of omnipotence. He is the creator. He is the commander of the elements, as we see in His life. He is the controller of all the creatures. He is the provider of food. He is the healer. He is the raiser of the dead. He is the forgiver of sin. He's the judge. He has the attribute of omnipresence.
But the leaders, they just shut their mouths. All their best planned wisdom, all their genius, they asked questions, they got answers profound, I mean, just taking the questions they asked and the question Jesus asked here, you could give that to a person and it would be enough to tell them who Christ was without equivocation. They rejected all that. They would not be intimidated. They would not be embarrassed. They would not be humiliated by this uneducated young Nazarene. They refused. They were helpless in front of Him. He dumbfounded them. But they never got the message. They refused to believe.
Listen, as I've been saying in this part of Matthew, secularism--it isn't secularism that is so much denying Christ as it is religion. Secularism is sort of indifferent. It is self- righteous religion that is so damning to people. And people get caught in these religions that deny the deity of Christ and they're so damning. And they don't want to hear the truth. How many times have we been brought into a discussion with somebody on the deity of Jesus Christ? It's constantly there. And with all the evidence, like this inappropriate response, they say nothing, stop the questions.